Van Gisbergen to spearhead T8 Mercedes at Bathurst

The powerhouse Supercars squad will field a standalone Bathurst 12 Hour entry for the second time this year as part of its customer association with Mercedes.

Van Gisbergen will spearhead the Pro-Am driver line-up alongside Supercars teammate Broc Feeney and GT World Challenge Australia regular Prince Jefri Ibrahim.

The latter drives for T8 in the local GT series, usually with van Gisbergen as his co-driver, although Feeney did race the AMG with Ibrahim last season as well.

Van Gisbergen, one of just two winners of the Bathurst Triple Crown (1000, 12 Hour and 6 Hour), said he's looking forward to taking on GT crews from around the world at the slightly-delayed May event.

“The Bathurst 12 Hour is one of my favourite events on the racing calendar, and I’m so glad we were able to postpone the event to later in the year to accommodate for the international teams,” said the 2016 12 Hour winner.

“It was devastating that the event couldn’t go ahead last year, because it’s such an intense and gruelling race, and to compete against some of the best drivers in the world for the Bathurst 12 Hour title is pretty special.

“I love racing in all forms at the Mountain, but I’m hoping we can capitalise on our podium finish in 2020, and along with Broc and Prince Jefri, give it a real crack in the Pro-Am category.”

The T8 Mercedes will again be backed by MANN-FILTER for the round-the-clock enduro.

“The Bathurst 12 Hour is a marquee event on the Australian racing calendar, where some of the most talented drivers and best-looking cars in the world are on display,” said T8 managing director and former 12 Hour winner Jamie Whincup.

“We’re grateful for MANN-FILTER to partner with us for this year’s event. We had the best-looking livery at the 2020 race, and I have no doubt when we release our livery later in the year, it’s going to look even better.

“The Bathurst 12 Hour has been a significant event for Triple Eight in growing our excellent relationship with Mercedes-AMG.

"We give every single race our best effort, but this year’s event will carry even more weight for us as it will be our first 12 Hour running AMG’s Customer Racing division for Australasia, a responsibility that we are proud to bear.”

The Bathurst 12 Hour has already undergone two date changes for 2022.

It was originally moved forward from March to February to avoid a clash with the 12 Hours of Sebring.

It was then pushed back to May due to an outbreak of Omicron in New South Wales.

It will now take place on May 13-15.